Gundam Wing: A Thin Line Between
by MadamHydra
Summary: A GW/Fushigi Yuugi xover. A botched experiment dumps the Gundam pilots and various members of OZ into
1. Part 0

Last revised: 12/02/99 

A Thin Line Between - prologue (rough draft) 

*** WARNING - SPOILERS  
*** FOR THE FUSHIGI YUUGI manga, TV, and OVA series 

This is a substantial revision of my GW/FY xover fic.  A couple of the characters were rather OOC and I had managed to paint myself into a corner plot-wise, so I decided to rework the story.  ^_^  Hope you guys like this version better. 

The major changes:  
(1) opened up the plot a bit and gave it some room to breath  
(2) tweaked Hotohori's lines to make him more IC  
(3) rewrote Relena so she's not a TOTAL ditz sweatdrop 

For the curious, you can find info on the FY characters and story at:  
http://members.tripod.com/~JayLiz/index1.html 

*** WARNING - SPOILERS  
*** FOR THE FUSHIGI YUUGI manga, TV, and OVA series 

This story occurs soon after Nakago has Tamahome's family killed, but everything after that is major Alternate-Reality.... 

======================================================================  
A THIN LINE BETWEEN  
A Gundam Wing/Fushigi Yuugi crossover fanfic by Madamhydra  
======================================================================  
Prologue (v2)  
====================================================================== 

WARNING:  shonen-ai, mild yaoi 

Short Disclaimer: (Full Disclaimers at the end) Gundam Wing and Fushigi Yuugi copyrighted by their respective creators and all distributors of their work and used without permission. 

--------------------------------------------  
[ a secret OZ military research facility ] 

Scenes of chaos incarnate.... 

"What the hell!?" 

"Stop him!" 

"Idiot!" 

....a madly cackling middle-aged man brandishing a large book.... 

"Are you insane!?  Do you have any idea what could happen if you tamper with the dimensional...." 

....the dance of wildly arcing energy that set the very air itself aglow... 

"General!  We've got to get out of here!" 

"I WANT TO SEE THE FACE OF A GOD!!!" 

"...." 

"Guys, I've got a *really* bad feeling about this...." 

Duo Maxwell had never said anything more true as the raving madman, the old leather-bound book, and reality itself shredded like confetti. 

--------------------------------------------  
[an entirely different place] 

A shrill female scream echoed through the royal palace of Konan, shattering the peaceful serenity of the morning.  Hotohori and the other Seishi who happened to be with him that day recognized the source immediately. 

"Miaka!" 

The emperor, followed closely by Chichiri, Nuriko, and Mitsukake, dropped everything and dashed toward Miaka's quarters.  They arrived in the hallway just in time to see their Miko fling open the doors to her bedroom and stagger out.  Her loose brown hair went flying as she glared wildly around her. 

"Miaka, what's wrong!?" Hotohori demanded, his hand automatically going for his sword as he glanced around warily. 

The priestess of Suzaku failed to answer any of the Seishi's questions. Miaka didn't even acknowledge their presence... then their jaws dropped as she abruptly yanked her bedrobe wide open and stared down at her exposed breasts. 

"I'm a GIRL!!!  A fucking GIRL!!!" Miaka shrieked in outrage. 

"No need to belabor the obvious," a familiar, yet strangely cold voice said.  An instant later, the speaker stepped into view and gazed at the hysterical girl with a total lack of sympathy. 

"Tamahome!?" Chichiri squeaked, startled to see the young man's callous indifference to his beloved's obvious distress and anger. 

Her chest heaving, Miaka retorted furiously, "That's easy for you to say, Heero!  You're still a GUY!" as she jabbed an angry finger in Tamahome's direction. 

"Hn."   

Miaka unleashed a string of obscenities that nearly blistered the paint from the walls, then pointed furiously behind Hotohori and the others. 

"And Trowa's still a guy!  Damn it!  How come I'm the only one to change sexes?  Why do *I* end up as a female!?  Someone tell me where's the justice in THAT!?" 

A bewildered Hotohori and his equally confused companions all turned from the bizarre confrontation between Miaka and Tamahome to stare dazedly at Tasuki who had silently walked up behind them.  With very uncharacteristic restraint, the former bandit gave Miaka a cool, dispassionate look and said quietly, "We have an audience," then tipped his head in Hotohori's and the other Seishi's direction. 

-------------------------------------------- 

Heero took a deep breath and struggled with an inexplicable urge to throw his arms around Miaka and cuddle her.... 

(No.  That's Wufei, not this Miaka person...,) he sternly reminded himself.  If waking up in a totally different body wasn't bad enough, now he had to deal with a completely foreign set of memories AND emotions. 

The Wing pilot had only just recently managed to accept his deep feelings for Duo.  Now he had to deal with this Tamahome person's intense love for this girl Miaka.  He had enough problems showing Duo how he felt in front of the other pilots -- people who knew as well as anyone living -- and the thought of making blatant passionate gestures to a strange girl in front of total strangers was enough to make him cringe. 

While Heero respected Wufei as a comrade and perhaps even considered the Chinese pilot a friend of sorts, he was not the slightest bit romantically or sexually attracted to Wufei.  And Wufei, in his present state of mind, would definitely not appreciate being 'cuddled' by anyone... especially another male. 

But try explaining that to his new body.... 

Heero had the unhappy feeling that things could get *very* complicated. 

-------------------------------------------- 

At the same time, Wufei was fighting the strange desire to throw himself into Tamahome's.... no, Heero's arms.  And if he didn't know better, he was dangerously close to bursting into tears. 

The mere thought made him feel a faint twinge of nausea. 

(I may be trapped in a girl's body, but I utterly refuse to sink so low!) 

He had been raised and trained to be a protector of weaker persons.  And from what he could tell from this girl's memories, she certainly needed someone to take care of her.  What a scatter-brained twit!  And yet, there was also a core of inner strength in this girl.... 

As he gazed sullenly at his fellow Gundam pilots, he couldn't help worrying about Treize.  Before everything went black, he could distinctly remember someone yelling something about a general.   

(No, it probably wasn't Treize.  The soldier could have been talking about any number of OZ generals....) But no matter how much Wufei tried to convince himself that the older man was safe, some instinct warned him otherwise. 

Momentarily distracted by his concern for the OZ general, Wufei was appalled to realized that he had begun to sniffle pathetically....  That brought his attention back to his most immediate problem. 

(A girl... by all my ancestors, why did it have to be a GIRL....) 

-------------------------------------------- 

In the royal palace in Kutou, a blond haired girl was wondering almost the exact same thing. 

"A girl... why a girl's body, by god!?" muttered Treize as he stared into a mirror with a faintly horrified expression. 

There was a soft tap on the door and a female voice murmured respectfully, "Lady Yui?  Did you call?" 

-------------------------------------------- 

In another bedroom in the Kutou palace, the long, trailing feathers on a headdress twitched and rustled softly, as if in sympathy as Quatre Raberba Winner stared down at the clam shell in his hand and struggled to cope with another young man's nightmarish memories of torments suffered and torments inflicted. 

-------------------------------------------- 

And in yet another chamber of the same palace in Kutou, a beautiful young woman sat up in her bed and stared in a mixture of disbelief and shock at the sparks of electricity that danced and sparkled around her long, elegant fingers. 

She took a deep breath, then threw back her head and screamed a single name that rang throughout the palace. 

"HEEE-RRRROOO!!!" 

-------------------------------------------- 

Lady Soi's cry was shrill and piercing enough to disturb a person dozing in a nearby suite. 

"Oi, Relena's at it again...." the sleeper muttered irately as he slowly began to rouse from his slumber. 

-------------------------------------------- 

Back in Konan, Heero stared at the people around him.  Although the bodies were completely unfamiliar, he had no problems identifying the personalities of his fellow pilots. 

There was Wufei who occupied his beloved....  Heero gave himself a stern mental shake and started over.   

Wufei was in that girl Miaka's body. Trowa watched with his usual stillness out of Tasuki's grey-green eyes.  But that only accounted for three out of five Gundam pilots.  Where was Quatre?   

And more importantly, where the hell was Duo? 

-------------------------------------------- 

Back in the Imperial Palace of Kutou, the sleeper finally awoke to a most unpleasant discovery. 

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit....  Man, this is seriously *NOT* good," Duo muttered under his breath as he tossed his long golden blond hair out of his eyes and stared at the wholly unfamiliar sapphire blue eyes in the mirror.   

Like a man gingerly picking his way through a complicated and extremely lethal minefield, Duo began to cautiously explored Nakago's memories and feelings... such as they were.   

(Hell, I've handled minefields before, but this is like trying to mess with a fusion reactor!  How can one guy have so much goddamn power?  And those memories of his....) 

As a small, but ominous smirk appeared on the blond-haired reflection in the mirror, Duo muttered, "Heh.  Never thought I'd meet a guy who could make Treize Khushrenada look like a saint.  Yeah, this Nakago guy's certainly got one hell of a package -- tons of power, not to mention both the brain and the sheer balls to do whatever it takes to get what he wants.   

"Well, you're not the only one, pal!" whispered Duo, as the cool smirk slowly transformed into the much more familiar, but equally dangerous grin of the Gundam pilot known as Shinigami. 

-------------------------------------------- 

AUTHORS NOTES/COMMENTS:  
Anyone remember the scenes with Nakago whipping or licking a battered Tamahome?  BWAHAHAHAHA!  And Tomo appears to be the sadistic sort.... 

Ah, the definite possibility (but no guarantee, mind you!) for Duo and Quatre to be evil and dom.... smirk 

--------------------------------------------  
madamhydra@aol.com         /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/:E  
http://www.geocities.com/~madamhydra/  
-------------------------------------------- 

=====================================================================  
The Full Disclaimer  
All rights and privileges to Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing are trademarks and property of Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties. All rights and privileges to Fushigi Yuugi and all characters are created by Watase Yuu and are property of and owned by Flower Comics, Shogakukan, Studio Pierot, Bandai Visual, TV Tokyo, and Movic. The characters of these works are used WITHOUT permission for the purpose of entertainment only.  This work of fiction is not meant for sale or profit.  
Original portion of the fiction included here is considered to be the sole property and copyrighted to the author.  
===================================================================== 


	2. Part 1

Last revised: 01/15/00 

*** WARNING - SPOILERS  
*** FOR THE FUSHIGI YUUGI manga, TV, and OVA series 

This is a substantial revision of my GW/FY xover fic.  A couple of the characters were rather OOC and I had managed to paint myself into a corner plot-wise, so I decided to rework the story.  ^_^  Hope you guys like this version better. 

The major changes:  
(1) opened up the plot a bit and gave it some room to breath  
(2) tweaked Hotohori's lines to make him more IC  
(3) rewrote Relena so she's not a TOTAL ditz sweatdrop 

sweatdrop I still haven't quite figured out the tone of this story.  The Suzaku side is probably going to be a bit on the light-hearted side, while the Seiryuu side is probably going to be distinctly darker.... 

For the curious, you can find info on the FY characters and story at:  
http://members.tripod.com/~JayLiz/index1.html 

======================================================================  
A THIN LINE BETWEEN  
A Gundam Wing/Fushigi Yuugi crossover fanfic by Madamhydra  
======================================================================  
Part 1 (v2)  
====================================================================== 

WARNING:  shonen-ai, yaoi, 

Short Disclaimer: (Full Disclaimers at the end) Gundam Wing and Fushigi Yuugi copyrighted by their respective creators and all distributors of their work and used without permission. 

-------------------------------------------- 

Hotohori, flanked by Nuriko and Mitsukake, with Chichiri standing off to the side, stared at his Miko and the two friends who had suddenly become total strangers to him.  He had seen Miaka ecstatic with joy and he had seen her distraught with despair, but he had never known her display such intense hostility as she glowered at everyone in barely controlled fury.  Tasuki, usually so talkative and hot-headed, had barely said a word, much less utter a single obscenity or curse... and then there was the unnerving emptiness in the bandit's usually lively green-grey eyes.  As for Tamahome... instead of being worried about Miaka's strange behavior, he had merely uttered a curt, "Get a hold of yourself, Wufei," to her before turning to watch Hotohori and his companions with cold, suspicious eyes. 

-------------------------------------------- 

Heero glared at his fellow pilots in their unfamiliar physical forms.  With full access -- perhaps *too* much access -- to their host bodies' memories, they could have had a chance to conceal their presence in this strange world.  That would have been the optimum solution.  But now with Wufei's outburst, any opportunity to maintain a low profile was totally blown. 

Not that he hadn't done his own part to screw up the situation.  Heero knew quite well that he was not acting the least bit like Tamahome.  Why hadn't he been more cautious?  Perhaps it was because Tamahome trusted these people and considered them friends.  It wasn't a comforting idea to think that his host's memories and emotions could affect his own judgment and behavior so much. 

Nuriko said anxiously, "What the hell's wrong with them!?  Why are they acting like this!?"  He glanced worriedly at Chichiri.  "Is it some sort of spell Nakago's cooked up?" 

The magician took a step closer to Wufei who backed up and reflexively took up a defensive posture. 

Chichiri blinked at the sight of Miaka move with the assurance of an expert martial artist and said hastily, "Miaka... or Wufei... or whoever you think you are, no one's going to hurt you!  We just want to figure out what's going on, no da!" 

Heero and Trowa exchanged a long look and came to a mutual, unspoken agreement.  At this point, it was useless to waste time and energy in an obviously futile cover-up.  A quick glance at Wufei got a reluctant nod. 

The Wing pilot stepped forward and said flatly, "You've undoubtedly realized that while these bodies are familiar, we....," Heero made a sharp gesture to Tasuki and Miaka, "are not the people that you know." 

"What the hell have you done to the Miko and the others?" Hotohori said in a tense, even voice.  His white-knuckled grip on his sword and the stiff set of his shoulders were the only clear signs of his inner turmoil. 

Heero snapped irritably, "Don't ask me.  I have no idea how we ended up in this world or in these bodies." 

Chichiri quickly blocked Nuriko's path as he took an angry step forward. 

"Stay calm, no da.  We can't do anything until we've figured out exactly what we're dealing with here, no da!" 

Trowa folded his arms and said quietly, "In our world, a deranged scientist was attempting to break through interdimensional barriers in an insane quest for power.  We tried to stop him, but it was too late.  There was an explosion and we woke up here. That's all we know at the moment." 

Nuriko eyed the redhead uneasily.  It was rather unnerving to see Tasuki acting and talking in such a controlled -- one could say 'overly controlled' -- manner. 

Chichiri rubbed at his chin and said, "I see, no da.  Now, if you don't mind... errr, Wufei, is it?... I just want to see if I can figure out what's going on here.  I promise that I won't hurt you, no da." 

Wufei gave the mage a long, assessing stare, then nodded slowly.   

"All right." 

A soft greenish glow appeared around Chichiri's staff, then slowly flowed outward to fill the room.  Heero tensed as the green light touched him, but when nothing else happened, he gradually relaxed.   

Several long minutes passed in complete silence before the green glow abruptly faded.  Chichiri took a deep breath. 

"Well?"  Hotohori asked in an unusually sharp voice as he gazed worriedly at Miaka and the others. 

"Hmmm... there's good news and bad news, no da." 

Nuriko muttered, "How did I know you were going to say that?" 

Chichiri shrugged helplessly, "That's just how things go, no da!" 

"What's the good news, then?" the emperor said. 

"Our friends are basically intact and whole -- mind, body, and soul.  Nothing seems to be missing.  The only problem is each of their bodies appear to be carrying an extra soul... and it's this extra soul who's currently in control of their physical bodies. 

"Then what happened to Miaka, Tamahome, and Tasuki!?  Why aren't THEY in control of their own bodies!?" Nuriko demanded. 

"I'm just guessing, no da, but it could have be that the shock of having another soul entity forced into their bodies somehow stunned the resident soul... a temporary effect, I hope, no da." 

"And you call that good news?  Then what's the bad news?" Nuriko exclaimed. 

"When you have two souls in the same body, all sorts of strange things can happen, no da." 

"Chichiri!  What sorts of things?" Mitsukake said with a worried frown. 

"That's more good news and bad news." 

Nuriko flung up his hands and yelled, "Argh!  Just spit it out, okay!?" 

"Well, since those ARE our friends' bodies to begin with and they're all linked by fate and destiny to Suzaku, I don't think that it's likely that THEIR souls are in any danger of being cast out of their bodies or otherwise erased, no da.  Now if the interlopers were ordinary souls, it would likely that the these invading souls would eventually be forced out, rather like a body fighting off a disease...." 

Nuriko heaved a sigh of relief.  "Great!  If all we have to do is wait...." 

"But I don't think any of these people have what you could call ordinary souls, no da." 

"Oh great...." Nuriko muttered. 

Hotohori thought, (No. I don't think there's anything at all ordinary about these three souls, as Chichiri calls them.  They have the eyes of warriors who have suffered and yet endured... people who refuse to surrender or give up, no matter the odds.  They're *not* going to just conveniently fade away.) 

"And if they're not ordinary?" the emperor said aloud. 

Chichiri continued in a somber voice, "In that case, the longer their souls occupy our friends' bodies, the more likely that the invading soul and the resident soul are eventually going to merge together... a process that's likely to be irreversible, no da!" 

"But... but if they merge... does that mean that Miaka... Tamahome... Tasuki... they won't be...." 

The mage nodded and sighed softly.  "She won't be the same Miaka that we all know and love.  Something within her will be fundamentally changed, and the same goes for the rest of our friends. " 

Wufei waved Miaka's -- now his -- hands wildly and shouted "NO!  I utterly refuse to be stuck with a weak, gluttonous, nitwit female like HER for the rest of my life.  I won't!" 

"How dare you speak of Miaka like that?" Hotohori said in a low, dangerous voice. 

Wufei glared back angrily and retorted, "Oh, perhaps you're ready to fight and die for your precious Miko, but would you like the prospect of literally BECOMING her!?" 

Hotohori, Nuriko, and Mitsukake flinched rather guiltily at the prospect. 

The Chinese pilot smiled sourly and said, "I didn't think so." 

Heero's scowl told everyone just how much HE liked the thought of merging with Tamahome, whose passion and willingness to express his feelings -- to the world, if necessary -- left the Wing pilot both annoyed and strangely envious. 

Trowa characteristically kept his thoughts to himself, but Heero thought it was safe to assume that the Heavyarms pilot wasn't too thrilled about the possibility of being assimilated by the personality of an impetuous, pain-in-the-butt ex-bandit who took an unholy joy at 'accidentally' torching *him* at the least provocation.... 

Heero gritted his teeth when he realized that the last thought was much more Tamahome's opinion than his own.   

(Damn it.  I can't afford to relax.  It's too easy to get caught up Tamahome's emotions and memories,) the Wing pilot cautioned himself. 

Even as Heero was doing his best to keep his thoughts straight, Trowa was finding that it took a conscious effort to remain still and centered.  He firmly suppressed the urge to stomp around the room and start yelling at exasperation.  Throwing a temper tantrum would be a mere waste of energy, but still.... 

"Then we've got to get these extra souls out of Miaka and the others right now!" 

"That's obvious, Nuriko.  But the important question is how are we supposed to accomplish that?" Hotohori said, discretely rubbing the bridge of his nose in an effort to massage away what promised to be a nasty headache. 

With a slight shrug, Trowa said, "I have no desire to steal anyone's identity.  Nor do I have any desire to lose my own.  Since we have no idea how we ended up in your friends' bodies in the first place, I don't have any suggestions on how to leave." 

"Why not?" Nuriko said in a rather suspicious voice.  "If you're seriously about what you say, why don't you just... up and leave?" 

"Because that's not how it works, you fools!" a cackling female voice said as an extremely old, extremely ugly, and extremely wizen old woman popped into their midst, her face only a few inches away from Heero's. 

He recoiled wildly and landed on his rear, even as he automatically grabbed for his gun before realizing that guns didn't even exist in this world.  Not that firearms would do any good against the old crone.... 

"Taiitsu-kun!" they all shouted. 

The old woman who was also THE Creator glared around her, then finally let her gaze settled back on Nuriko. 

"You think I'd be here if this mess was so easy to take care of?  If they were ordinary souls, they never would survived the trip."  She then glared at Heero.  "Why are mortals such fools, to tamper with the walls between worlds just for the fun of it?" 

He didn't bother to reply, but simply gave her a hostile stare. 

She snorted, then continued, "As no ordinary souls could have survived to reach this world, no ordinary human body could have housed such souls.  That's why these outworlders ended up in the bodies of the Suzaku Seishi.  Some of them, anyway." 

Heero abruptly sat up.  "What do you mean, 'SOME of them'?  You mean that there are more of us here?" 

"Yes.  But of the nearly hundred souls cast into the void, only a handful survived the journey to this world." 

Trowa stiffened and quietly asked, "How many?" 

"I'm certain there were at least eight souls who crossed the void... maybe a few more." 

"If three of them are here, that means that...," Nuriko said. 

"At least five more remain at large and undiscovered," Taiitsu-kun muttered grouchily. 

"But where are they?" asked Hotohori. 

"Don't you fools ever listen to a thing I say?  No ordinary human body could host such souls.  So where else would you expect to find bodies with powers on par with the Suzaku Seishi!?" 

Nuriko grew abruptly pale.  "You don't mean the Seiryuu Seishi!" 

"Perhaps.  Then again, perhaps not.  Remember, there are FOUR gods of this world.  But for certain some of the outworld souls now reside within the bodies of those dedicated to Seiryuu and its miko."  She nodded significantly, then turned toward Heero and his companions.  "Go seek out the other souls from your world.  Only then will I be able to determine whether there's any place for you to return to."  She smiled toothily.  "Be warned.  Your world might exist no more.  In which case....  We shall see." 

Wufei snapped, "Wait a moment!  I somehow KNEW Heero and Trowa the moment I saw them -- or at least I knew there was something strangely familiar about Tamahome and Tasuki.  But I can't sense the others' presence at all." 

"Of course not.  You can detect each other's presence only because you're in the bodies of the Miko and her Seishi, who are all linked together in the service of Suzaku," the Creator snapped. 

Trowa quietly said, "But we don't have a similar link with the Seiryuu Seishi or the Seishi of the other gods, so we have no way of telling whether they contain a soul from our world or not.  And vice versa." 

Taiitsu-kun peered at Trowa and muttered, "You've got a good set of brains... which is more than I can say about that red-haired idiot whose body you're occupying."  She smiled slyly, "But his heart is definitely much better shape than yours, so you might learn something from him."   

The old crone shrugged impatiently and said, "Locating the other souls is your problem, not mine.  I have enough to do trying to get things back in order." 

Hotohori stepped forward and said urgently, "But Chichiri said that if these strangers' souls stay in our friends' bodies, there's a serious risk of...." 

"Of the souls merging.  Quite right, pretty boy." 

"And we have no idea how long it's going to take for them to find the other souls," Mitsukake said anxiously. "If the search takes too long...." 

"Then I suggest you hurry.  Because if their souls merge, then the issue of returning to their world becomes totally moot.  They'll become one with their host, never to be separated." 

"But isn't there any way we can separate their souls from Miaka's and the others' bodies right now?"  Nuriko was starting to sound a bit desperate. 

"No.  At the moment, they're well and truly stuck in your friends' bodies.  And before you ask, a wish from Suzaku or Seiryuu might force them out of Miaka's and the others' bodies, but the summoning won't work as long as there's a foreign soul within the Mikos.  Of course that won't be a problem if the two souls fuse together." 

And on that encouraging note, Taiitsu-kun disappeared. 

"That's fucking great."   

Heero and Wufei both turned to stare at Trowa, who blinked at them in faint surprise.  Then his eyes widened a bit as he realized what he had just said. 

Wufei said in a disbelieving voice, "Trowa, did I just hear you utter an obscenity?" 

The pale skin that was the curse of redheads made it impossible for Trowa to hide a faint blush of embarrassment as he nodded curtly. 

"I was... concentrating on something else." 

(Probably worrying about Quatre...,) thought Wufei. 

Heero snorted, then turned to Wufei, "We'll just have to try to keep ourselves as separate from our host's personality as possible."  He then glared at Wufei.  "And whatever you do, do NOT start calling me 'Tamahome' in that... that voice of hers." 

Wufei flushed and retorted, "Then stop staring at my chest, Heero!" as the Chinese pilot very belatedly pulled Miaka's bedrobe over her exposed breasts. 

Trowa interrupted the developing argument with a calm, "We have other problems to worry about." 

"Which are?" 

"How to locate the other souls and what to do once we've found them.  Taiitsu-kun stated that several souls from our universe are contained within the bodies of the Seiryuu Seishi.  But we have no easy way to determine which of them harbor an extra soul or not." 

"We can wait and see if they try to kill us or not," muttered Nuriko. 

"That's not a perfect test," the Wing pilot said harshly. 

"What do you mean?" 

In a cold precise voice, Heero replied, "When the dimensional breach occurred, five of us were in the middle of infiltrating an enemy base that contained at least a hundred OZ personnel. There's significant chance that any soul entities we encounter are going to be hostile enemies." 

"Terrific," Nuriko muttered. 

"Do you think your two missing friends managed to... make it here?" Mitsukake asked tentatively. 

Heero said flatly, "If I survived, Duo would have."   

(If we're talking about the strength of soul, spirit, and heart, then Duo and Quatre are probably the strongest of us all...,) the Wing pilot thought to himself.  The alternative was unacceptable.  Not that he wanted Duo to be trapped in the same precarious situation as he, Trowa, and Wufei currently were, but given a choice between that and possible oblivion.... 

Apparently Trowa's thoughts followed the same path as Heero's, because he simply stated, "The same with Quatre." 

As for Wufei, he said nothing aloud, but within his own mind, he knew that Treize also would have survived.  There was no question about it. 

"Then it gets even worse, no da," Chichiri said quietly. 

"How could it get worse?" Wufei muttered. 

"I'm sure you're well aware that the Seiryuu Seishi and their Miko are in sworn opposition to Miaka and the Suzaku Seishi.  That's not even mentioning issues of personal revenge, especially between Tamahome and Suboshi."  He glanced significantly at Heero.  "If any of you get overwhelmed by the memories and emotions of your host body...." 

"We could end up fighting each other... possibly to the death," Wufei said in a taut voice. 

The monk nodded somberly. 

With a slight frown, Hotohori said, "Luckily, we had Taiitsu-kun and Chichiri to explain what happened to our friends.  I'm certainly not happy about the situation, but I understand that you are certainly not to blame.  We'll do everything in our power to help you, and not only for our friends' sake.  Unfortunately, we don't know if your missing friends will have similar good luck dealing with the Seiryuu Seishi.  Somehow, I don't think that the Seiryuu Seishi will react kindly to discovering that some of their members have been possessed by souls from another world." 

"Duo's like a cat.  He'll find a way to land on his feet, somehow," Wufei said with a sour smile. 

Heero gave his fellow pilot a cold stare and snapped, "Certainly, IF someone else doesn't do anything stupid to ruin his chances of keeping things under control." 

Wufei blushed furiously and glared back at the Wing pilot. 

Unsettled by the exchange of nasty looks between Miaka and Tamahome, Hotohori hastily interrupted by saying, "So now what are you planning to do?" 

Heero merely shrugged and said flatly, "We go hunting for the Seiryuu Seishi and their Miko." 

--------------------------------------------  
--------------------------------------------  
[ Kutou royal palace ] 

As he dressed in Nakago's clothes and armor with unconscious ease, Duo was carefully sorting through the warlord's memories of the Kutou Emperor's court, trying to get some idea what kind of mess he was getting into. 

(Sheesh!  What a den of rats.  Half these nobles would just love to stab this Nakago guy in the back if they could and the other half's too busy sucking up to him.) 

Strangely, the situation wasn't completely unfamiliar to Duo.  The politics in the court of Kutou weren't all that different from the street gangs of his childhood.  There were the same sorts of power games and dirty dealings, only differing in the scale of things.    

Duo sighed quietly to himself.  It was a bit disconcerting to realize that he and Nakago had basically used the same tactic to survive... and even thrive. 

Masks.  It all came down to masks... masks that hid the darkness and pain inside... masks that deceived and lulled suspicions... masks that allowed just the right amount of strength to shine through, but concealing one's true power.... 

He had developed the reputation of a jokester, cheerful and easy-going, but no pushover -- but that happy-go-lucky surface hid the ruthlessness and determination that gave him the strength to do whatever was necessary to achieve his goals.  Few people had ever seen that side of him and all of them were dead, mostly at his hands.  Not even Heero knew.... 

As for Nakago, he was one smooth bastard, hiding the bitterness and hatred from years of humiliation and abuse behind a facade of cool control and politeness.  Even the damn emperor, who damn well should have known better, bought Nakago's act. And the nicely calculated show of power -- enough to instill respect and fear in the people around him... but not too much fear.  That would have been just as bad as too little fear.  Those fancy-dressed idiots would be pissing in their robes if they only knew how much power Nakago truly had....   

However, Nakago's carefully constructed mask left Duo with a bit of problem.  Because if that mask cracked or if Nakago's act faltered in the slightest, everything could easily go straight to hell, one way or another.  Basically, Duo could not afford to let anyone in Kutou know that anything strange was going on with their Shogun. 

(That's right.  Gotta play it cool.  These guys are like a pack of starving alley dogs.  They're just dying to rip him apart or get him under their control the first chance they get.  Let them catch the smallest sign of weakness and everyone's screwed.  Friggin' terrific!  And I thought infiltrating into OZ bases was bad....  I could really use someone I can trust at my back.  Hell, I wish Heero was here!  Damn it!  He was just starting to open up... to trust me and my feelings for him, but now this shit has to happen!  Although... maybe it's better that he's not trapped in this crazy zoo with me....) 

There was a sudden knock on the door.   

"Enter," said Duo in Nakago's deep, rich voice. 

A guard opened the door and dropped respectfully to one knee. 

"Lord Nakago, there's something wrong with Lady Soi." 

Sapphire blue eyes narrowed, Duo said, "What do you mean?" 

"The servants heard hysterical shouting and things breaking inside her chambers just now.  We thought it might be an assassin, but when we opened the door, there was no one in the room.  She threw a vase at us and we... errr, left her alone." 

Duo suppressed the urge to grin.  With Soi's lightning powers, it was no wonder the guards and servants didn't want to piss the woman off and risk being turned into a charcoal briquette. 

"Anything else?" 

"She was babbling something about... a hero, I think, my lord." 

(A hero?  What the...?  Wait, can she be talking about Heero!?  Shit!  I remember hearing that stupid shout of Relena's, but I thought it was all a bad dream!  Damn it, she could blow everything if I don't get her under control NOW.) 

"Fine.  I'll deal with it.  You may go." 

"Yes, Lord Nakago," murmured the guard as he backed out of the room. 

-------------------------------------------- 

Before he stepped out of Yui's chambers, Treize tried tugging the blasted schoolgirl's skirt down a bit more. 

(This is ridiculous!) 

As he checked his appearance in the mirror one more time, he pondered what he had learned about Yui in the last hour.  Although she was a girl, he was gratified to find out that Yui was in excellent physical shape and a born athlete.  However, for a man raised from birth in an atmosphere of intrigue and deceit, he found the girl's naivete, obtuseness, and stubborn blindness to the truth appalling.  In his experienced eyes, Nakago's manipulations were fairly blatant, but it was equally obvious that the real Yui couldn't see beyond her own sense of betrayal and anger. 

(She's really not that much in love with Tamahome.  It's more a nasty combination of infatuation, jealousy, and vindictiveness.) 

And while he can understand Yui's anguish over being raped, he didn't consider it to be sufficient excuse for her foolishness.  It wasn't as if she was unique.  Unfortunately, rape was one of the most frequent violent crimes committed against others.  At least she doesn't even remember the actual event. 

Treize smiled grimly to himself. 

Some people are not so lucky. 

-------------------------------------------- 

As Duo took the familiar way to Soi's room, a passing courtier smirked lewdly to his companions and said in a clearly audible voice, "Off to bring your pet bitch to heel, Lord Nakago?" 

Duo stopped, then slowly turned to stare at the courtier.  The foppish man had been chuckling at his little verbal jab, but his smirk abruptly disappeared from his face when he saw Nakago's sinister little smile.  It was Duo's favorite 'I'm-busy-now-but-I'll-deal-with-you-later' grin. 

It suited both the occasion and Nakago perfectly. 

Then Duo continued on his way, leaving the offending nobleman sweating and quivering nervously in his elaborately embroidered boots. 

-------------------------------------------- 

When he arrived at Soi's chambers, it was clear that she was still on her own little rampage. As he dismissed both the guards and servants, then watched them hastily scurry away, Duo absently thought, (I suppose there *are* certain benefits being a ruthless powerful bastard.) 

He calmly entered Soi's bedroom and locked the door behind him.  As soon as he saw her, he knew that he was right.  Although it was Soi's body who was yelling incoherently and tossing things around, he was certain that Relena was running the show.  And knowing what Nakago did about Soi's life, he had a pretty good guess why Relena was so totally freaked out. 

With a silent snort of amusement, he thought, (Not so easy to ignore the dirtier aspects of existence, is it, Relena?  Not when you can remember every cold, hungry, terrified, and painful moment of Soi's life....) 

She abruptly whirled around, vase in hand.  But she froze in mid-throw as soon as she recognized Nakago... and more importantly, the fact that the man in front of her really wasn't the Shogun.  Before she could do or shout out anything stupid, Duo took several swift steps, grabbed Relena by the throat, and pinned her firmly against the wall. 

"Well, imagine meeting you here, Relena," he said with a wicked little grin. 

--------------------------------------------  
madamhydra@aol.com         /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/:E  
http://www.geocities.com/~madamhydra/  
-------------------------------------------- 

=====================================================================  
The Full Disclaimer  
All rights and privileges to Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing are trademarks and property of Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties. All rights and privileges to Fushigi Yuugi and all characters are created by Watase Yuu and are property of and owned by Flower Comics, Shogakukan, Studio Pierot, Bandai Visual, TV Tokyo, and Movic. The characters of these works are used WITHOUT permission for the purpose of entertainment only.  This work of fiction is not meant for sale or profit.  
Original portion of the fiction included here is considered to be the sole property and copyrighted to the author.  
===================================================================== 


	3. Part 2

Last revised: 12/02/99 

A THIN LINE BETWEEN - Part 2 (revised) 

*** WARNING - SPOILERS  
*** FOR THE FUSHIGI YUUGI   
*** manga, TV, and OVA series 

This is a substantial revision of my GW/FY xover fic.  A couple of the characters were rather OOC and I had managed to paint myself into a corner plot-wise, so I decided to rework the story.  ^_^  Hope you guys like this version better. 

The major changes:  
(1) opened up the plot a bit and gave it some room to breath  
(2) tweaked Hotohori's lines to make him more IC  
(3) rewrote Relena so she's not a TOTAL ditz sweatdrop 

Well, this part focuses only on the Seiryuu side of things, so it's a bit on the dark side.  The next part will probably focus on the Suzaku side and most likely will be a bit more light-hearted. 

For general info on the FY characters and story:  
http://members.tripod.com/~JayLiz/index1.html 

======================================================================  
A THIN LINE BETWEEN  
A Gundam Wing/Fushigi Yuugi crossover fanfic by Madamhydra  
======================================================================  
Part 2 (v2)  
====================================================================== 

WARNING:  shonen-ai, mild yaoi 

Short Disclaimer: (Full Disclaimers at the end) Gundam Wing and Fushigi Yuugi copyrighted by their respective creators and all distributors of their work. Used without permission. 

-------------------------------------------- 

In Lady Soi's suite in the Imperial Palace of Kutou, Duo held Relena by the throat and pinned her firmly against the wall.  In a menacingly cheerful voice, he said, "Well, imagine meeting you here, Relena." 

In Soi's body, Relena blinked as she recognized the annoyingly familiar grin on Nakago's face. 

"Maxwell!" she choked out. 

"You're one for one.  Wanna go two for two?" Duo asked her with a wicked little smirk that rather suited the Shogun's face. 

"Get your hands off of me, you jerk!" 

"No way, Relena.  Not until I'm sure you're not going to throw another shit-fit." 

"A shit-fit!?  That would be something a crass idiot like yourself WOULD say!  As if I don't have every reason to be upset!  Just look at me!  I'm trapped in the body...." 

Her voice trailed off -- and not in an entirely voluntary fashion -- as Relena felt the steely grip on her throat tighten ever so slightly.  Duo narrowed Nakago's piercing blue eyes and said in an almost conversational voice, "Where you planning to say 'the body of a whore'?  Personally, I tend to think of a whore more as a state of mind, not an occupation.  In which case, Soi definitely does not qualify as a whore."  He shrugged carelessly.  "Then again, maybe I'm just weird that way." 

Relena pursed her lips angrily.  "Of course you couldn't possibly understand how someone like me would feel about it!" 

Duo glared back at her.  "Why?  Because I'm just a common, low class street brat born and raised in the gutter?" 

"I didn't say that!" her cheeks flushing bright red. 

"No, but you didn't have to.  I know what you're thinking -- you've made it abundantly clear whenever we meet.  You think I haven't noticed how you harp on how well educated you are, how sophisticated you are, how well-connected you are... and how fucking dedicated to world peace you are every time you talk to Heero!" 

"Don't blame me if you're the one feeling inadequate, Maxwell!  I'm trying my best to do something worthwhile, while you...." 

"While I what?  Just what do you think I've been risking my neck for?  And not just me, but Heero and the others, too!" 

"It's obvious that you just don't get it, Maxwell!  I've been raised and trained all my life for this type of work, to work for the greater good, but you....  All you probably know how to do is fight and cause trouble, Maxwell.  That's all you're good for!  You're so used to living day by day, hand to mouth, that it's no wonder that you can't comprehend the big picture!  But Heero's different!  Heero understands what I'm trying to accomplish.  Working together, I know we can make my vision of world peace come true!" 

Duo's temper finally snapped.  Feelings of resentment, irritation, and anger at either being totally ignored or being addressed in an infuriatingly condescending manner by Relena finally came to a boil.   

"You think you're the only one with dreams?  The only one with visions of a peaceful future!?  Do you think I've been fighting, sweating, and bleeding just for the friggin' excitement!?" 

"How should I know!?  You certainly seem to treat this whole war like it's some damn game!  While you stand around wasting energy making stupid jokes, people are suffering and dying!" 

Duo hissed furiously, "Oh, believe me, I know that *all* too well." 

At her uncomprehending stare, he shook his head irritably. 

"Never mind all that, Relena.  If you haven't noticed, we aren't in our familiar old universe anymore and you're no longer the guiding light of peace *or* the fucking Queen of the World!  New place, new game, new rules.  That means that at the moment, your precious ideas of social superiority means diddly-squat, so cut the holier-than-thou prima donna act.  It's only making me mad and at the moment, that's a BAD thing." 

"You have the nerve to talk to me like that!?" 

"And if you don't get a grip on yourself and fast, you're going to land both of us in a shitload of trouble!  I know it's hard for you to see past the end of your snooty little nose, but we both happen to be stuck in the bodies of two of the Seiryuu Seishi.  And, may I add, we both happen to be in what I'd consider hostile territory because these damn Kutou nobles and military goons are a pack of sneaky, conniving slimeballs who'd be happy to stab each other in the back at the slightest opportunity!" 

"So what are you getting at, Maxwell?" Relena bit out in a low, furious voice. 

Duo rolled his eyes.  "All this means that we can't let anybody know that anything weird is going on!  Which means that we have to do our damnest to convince people that it's all business as usual with Nakago and Soi until we figure out HOW the hell we got her and WHAT the fuck is going on!" 

Relena gave Duo a narrow-eyed glare and said in a brittle voice, "Let me guess.  You want me to play the dutiful servant, complete with 'LORD Nakago' and the appropriate *deference*?"  Her lips curled in a contemptuous smile.  "You might make fun of me and my supposedly stuck-up airs, but I can see you're going to just ADORE playing the chance to play the high and mighty lord!  Does 'business as usual' includes being your lover?" she added with an angry toss of her head. 

Duo stared at her blankly for a moment, then released his grip on her throat.  As she slid gracelessly to the floor, he started with smothered chuckles which soon escalated into outright guffaws of laughter. 

"Hah!  I knew I was right!" Relena growled as she picked herself off the ground. 

After a few minutes, Duo finally managed to get his laughter under partial control.   

"Sleep with you?  Yo!  Reality calling!"  He leaned against a dresser and said mockingly, "You know, Relena, I always thought that you were a self-centered, egotistical twit, but THAT really takes the cake!" 

"What are you babbling about now?" she retorted furiously. 

Duo smirked.  "It means that you, Relena Peacecraft, are the absolutely LAST person I would want to have sex with!" 

She somehow managed to look both relieved AND offended.  "The last... what's wrong with you?  Don't you like women?  Are you gay or something?" she asked with a slightly disgusted look. 

The Deathscythe pilot rolled his eyes in exasperation.  "Nothing's wrong with me and I like females just fine.  I just don't like YOU!" 

As he watched Relena give him a slightly baffled frown, Duo sighed and said, "Get this through that dense head of yours, Relena.  I did NOT come up with this idea because I was dying to get under your skirts, okay?  The fewer waves we make, the better.  Now I KNOW you've got access to Soi's memories...." 

When Relena grimaced and looked away, Duo snapped, "You take what Soi knows about the local politics and figure out for yourself what will happen if the Emperor and his scumbag court find out that a bunch of people from another world has taken over the bodies of some of the Seiryuu Seishi!" 

-------------------------------------------- 

Treize waved away the female attendants and set off down the hallway alone.  However, within a minute, someone stormed angrily out of a side corridor and crashed into her, knocking her to the floor. 

"Lady Yui!  I'm so sorry!" the red-faced young man blurted as he helped her off the floor. 

It took Treize a few seconds to identify the speaker as Suboshi. 

"No... I'm fine... really I am," Treize murmured as the young man hovered anxiously over his Miko.   

Suboshi glanced around and scowled.  "Lady Yui, where are your guards?  Or your attendants?" 

Treize shrugged nonchalantly and replied with just a touch of temper, "I wasn't in the mood for company." 

"But... it's really not safe for you to go roaming about by yourself, my lady!  The Suzaku Seishi have already infiltrated the palace on several occasions.  And of course, who knows what these overdressed court fops might do." 

Treize allowed a startled look appear on Yui's face.  "You really think that they would dare to accost the chosen priestess of Seiryuu?" 

"This palace is crawling with fools who would dare anything.  Besides, it's better to be safe than sorry.  Please allow me to escort you to Lord Nakago.  You were looking for him, weren't you?" the young man said, nearly falling over himself to be helpful. 

Treize sighed inwardly.  (He's definitely developing a crush on Yui.  Just what I need, a lovesick puppy trailing at my heels.) 

The OZ general smiled pleasantly and said, "And just where is Lord Nakago?" 

Suboshi shrugged.  "From what I heard, he's in Soi's quarters." 

"Oh, then I wouldn't want to disturb him...." 

"It's not what you think.  For some reason Soi was throwing some sort of fit or tantrum just now.  I'm not sure what's exactly going on.  I was just on my way to find out." 

Treize gazed calculatingly at Suboshi, who apparently had not noticed anything abnormal about Yui.   

(Well, I managed to fool him, at least....) 

Unfortunately Suboshi was not the most observant of people, especially in his current state of rage and grief from his twin brother's death.  No, the true test would come when she faced Nakago.   

(But I can hardly avoid the leader of Yui's Seishi forever.  I might as well get this meeting over with and find out if Nakago detects anything strange about his Miko....) 

Treize gave Suboshi a polite, but distant smile.   

"Very well.  I accept your offer.  There are certain urgent matters I want to discuss with Lord Nakago." 

-------------------------------------------- 

Relena found herself struggling with an unexpectedly sharp pang of hurt when Nakago -- no, Maxwell -- bluntly told her that he didn't like OR want her.  She told herself that she should feel relieved that Maxwell wasn't interested in pestering or molesting her... but she wasn't.  Instead, his rejection stung worse than a slap in the face. 

(No, it's not me!  Those aren't my own feelings, but rather this Soi woman's feelings!  She's the one who's hopelessly infatuated with Nakago... not me.  I couldn't care the least about Nakago OR Maxwell, but why am I feeling this pain... this sorrow?) 

She pushed away the disturbing thoughts and said irritably, "Why should YOU be worried, anyway?  We both know how powerful Nakago is.  What could these barbarians do to you even if they did know the truth?  You can just...."  She made a careless, dismissive flick of her hand.  "Goodness knows you've done something similar many times before with that black Gundam of yours!" 

Duo spun around and stared at Relena in disbelief.  "What the hell are you talking about, Relena?  Oh sure, if he really wanted to, Nakago could probably take out a good chunk of this palace and probably half the imperial court along with it without breaking a big sweat.  And then I would have the thrill and joy of watching this entire country go down the toilet as it disintegrates into civil war between the surviving nobles.  Do you have ANY idea how many innocent people will die if that happens, Relena?  If the fighting doesn't kill them outright, disease and starvation probably will." 

She blinked in surprise, then looked away uncomfortably.   

"I...." 

He stalked back toward her and said tightly, "I'd think that you, of all people, would be interested in staying out of trouble and keeping a low profile.  Or does your precious ideas of absolute pacifism only apply to 'civilized' people and not to these barbarians, as you call them?  You wanna risk getting a bunch of people killed just because you're too damn proud to pretend you're Soi, whom I think is a hell of a lot more likable than you are?" 

Her growing sense of shame made her retort defensively, "You're... you're just exaggerating....  That's never happened when you've blown up things before!" 

"Back home there's exists a strong central government who usually manages to keep things under control.  Things are totally different back here!  The country of Kutou like a house of cards.  The wrong sort of nudge can destroy the fragile balance of power keeps this country in one piece and send everything straight to hell!  And if I can figure that much from a bunch of junior high history courses, I'm sure Miss Super-Hotshot Diplomat Peacecraft can, too... if she can just get her damn butt down off her friggin' ivory tower and take a good hard look around!" 

"That comment was entirely uncalled for, Maxwell!  I am very well aware of what can happen in a civil war...!" 

"Oooohh, but you didn't expect me to think about things like that, right?  Sorry to destroy your illusions about me, but I happen to be capable of a hell of a lot more than gratuitous mayhem and destruction!  And I'm the first one to admit that blowing things up isn't always the best way to tackle a problem." 

Relena opened her mouth to say something, but Duo interrupted her by saying, "As I see it, we have several options."  He lifted one finger.  "First, we can tell the Emperor and everyone else who we really are.  In which case, we'll be lucky if they don't immediately lock us up in the local loony bin which I seriously doubt are up to your standard of modern medical care.  Which leads us to two more choices: (A) give up and rot in prison until they figure out what to do with us; or (B) blow everything to hell as we fight our way free.  I've already told you what could happen if I do that!" 

Relena scowled.  "You've made your point!" 

Duo held up another finger.  "Second, we can run, but where the hell are we going to run to?  Konan?  After everything's Nakago and the other Seiryuu Seishi have done to those guys, we'll be lucky if they don't try to kill us on sight.  And with this weird divine destiny stuff with summoning Seiryuu and all that, I've got a bad feeling that we wouldn't be able to stay hidden for long, because if the Suzaku Seishi don't come after us, the other Seiryuu Seishi probably will." 

She sighed in frustration.  "Damn...." 

He held one more finger.  "Third, we can stay put and pretend everything's cool.  Situation normal.  That will at least buy us some time to figure out what the hell's going on before we do anything irreversible." 

Relena flung up her hands and yelled, "All right, all right!  You don't have to beat the point into the ground!  I'll play along... for now." 

Duo propped his hands on Nakago's hips and said, "Whoa, you're actually showing some common sense!  Listen, Relena, I want to make something absolutely clear, all right?  I don't like you and you don't like me.  However, we're in this mess together.  Which means that I don't care what the hell the provocation is, but you'd damn well better not blow your cover just because people aren't sucking up to you." 

She gritted her teeth and retorted, "Don't worry about me!  I should be the one worrying about you, you twit!  You're the one who's always acting like a silly jackass!  You seem to have no concept of self-control!" 

He grinned at her, but there was a dangerous edge to that smile.   

"Ah, but that's fun.  THIS is business.  And the fact that Heero is willing to put up with me and my little quirks should give you some idea about just how good I am at this sort of shit." 

Relena blinked in surprise.  She was used to Maxwell laughing, joking, and generally acting like a total idiot, but she had never seen him so intensely focused like this.  She belatedly remembered that Duo Maxwell was an expert Gundam pilot AND a trained terrorist like Heero.  She looked away from that unnerving grin and muttered, "Fine." 

"That's good, because I've got better things to do than to baby-sit you." 

"I can take care of myself!" she snapped without thinking as her temper flared. "No one would dare lay hands on a Seiryuu...." 

Duo gave her a mocking smile.  "Sorry, wrong answer, Relena.  SOI can take care of herself.  Oh, you may have her powers, but let me ask you something.  Are YOU willing to use those powers, Ms. Absolute Pacifism?  Do you have the guts to fry a person who's trying to hack your head off with a sword, Relena?  Because you'd better believe me when I tell you that these guys are not going to stop and patiently stand around to listen to your little spiel about the glories of pacifism and turning the other cheek.  That's not how things work around here and you know it!" 

"Don't push your luck, Maxwell!  You might just be surprised at what I'm willing to do!" Relena snarled as sparks started to dance along Soi's hand.  However, Duo's calculating smirk stopped Relena cold. 

(Why that little bastard... he was deliberately trying to provoke me!) she thought furiously. 

"You... you...," she sputtered aloud. 

Duo chuckled.  "Wow, you're certainly willing to chuck the pacifism shtick pretty damn quick when it suits your convenience, Relena." 

She glowered at him.  "Why on earth did I have to end up with YOU, of all people!  I wish Heero was here!" 

"You and me both," muttered Duo. 

"Heero understands me!  He would treat me with the respect I deserve!" 

"Oh, yeah.  Right... the respect you deserve.  Absolutely...," Duo said with blatant insincerity.  "At least I'm trying to explain what the hell I'm doing, which is more than he would.  Heero would simply tell you to act like Soi or else." 

Relena tossed her head.  "You're so blind, Maxwell, it's almost funny.  You have no concept of how Heero feels about me!" 

"Oh, can it, Relena.  I don't want to get into that argument again."   

Duo brushed Nakago's long blond hair out of his eyes and added, "Okay, now THAT's settled, why don't we take a walk and discretely check this place out?" 

"Fine," she snapped, tapping her foot impatiently. 

Duo opened the door only to find Yui and Suboshi standing just outside.  The young Seiryuu seishi had his hand raised as if he had been just about to knock on the door. 

(Shit!  Did they hear anything?) Duo wondered anxiously, but his worries were abruptly shoved aside when his eyes met Yui's.  There was an instant flash of semi-recognition.  Perhaps he couldn't immediately identify who was in control of Yui's body, but he was certain that person or entity was from HIS world. 

A quick sideways glance at Suboshi told him that the young man was as normal as any grief-stricken, revenge-obsessed teenager could be.  Before the uneasy silence could drag out too long, both Duo and Yui simultaneously spoke up. 

"Nakago."  
"Lady Yui." 

Duo smiled slightly and said smoothly, "I was hoping to talk to you, Lady Yui, about some private matters." 

Her lips quirked upward and she replied just as smoothly, "How fortunate.  I had some urgent matters to discuss with you, also."  Yui turned to Suboshi and said, "Thanks for the escort, but I'm sure that Lord Nakago can handle things from here." 

Suboshi couldn't quite hide his disappointment at being dismissed. 

"Yes... of course.  Then I'll see you later, Lady Yui."  The young man took a few steps, then stopped.  "Lord Nakago, about Tamahome... I would like permission to go after...." 

Duo barely managed to keep a poker face as he recalled what Suboshi had done on his last 'little errand'. 

(You fucking bastard!  Tamahome's entire family... you brutally murdered a bunch of innocent kids and a sick old man, just for some perverted idea of revenge?)   

With a vaguely threatening smile, Duo said firmly, "No.  I don't want you taking any more action against Tamahome or any of the Suzaku Seishi at the moment.  I have... other plans.  We'll discuss the matter later." 

Suboshi scowled, but nodded.  "All right, Lord Nakago.  Later, then.  My lady." 

As they all watched the young man disappear down the hallway, Duo spoke for the benefit of any observers. 

"Lady Yui, perhaps the garden balcony?" 

She nodded, "Yes, that will do nicely." 

-------------------------------------------- 

A cluster of exceedingly drunk young nobles, newly arrived from the border regions of Kutou, loitered around the palace hallways and generally made a nuisance of themselves.  In a slurred voice, one of the better looking young men said loudly, "Finally some action!  I'll be glad when we move against those damn Konan peasants and that pathetic emperor of theirs!" 

Another young man, just a bit more sober than his companion, chuckled and said, "Betcha you can't wait for the chance to grab some loot!  I've never seen anyone with worse luck at dice than you, Enshin." 

"Did you have to bring THAT up, Kimako?  I'm starting to think those damn dice were loaded... whoa!" 

"What?"  Kimako and the others peered around whoozily. 

"Will you look at that guy!" 

They all turned to glance in the direction of Enshin's pointing finger and saw a slim, beautiful young man dressed in a high-collared gold embroidered silk tunic and matching pants.  He looked gorgeous, with his long, silky black hair tied back in a high ponytail, except for two thin locks of hair which framed his elegantly boned face. 

"Oh, he's a beauty all right...."  Kimako could barely keep himself from drooling at the sight. 

"Awww... he looks a bit lonely.  Maybe he's looking for some company, eh?" 

Another member of Enshin's group laughed nastily.  "No way!" 

"Come on!  Just look at the guy!  He's just asking for it with the way he moves." 

"He looks pretty damn cold to me." 

"That shows what little you know.  It's the cold ones that burn the hottest on the inside," Enshin said with a knowing smirk. 

"You're full of shit, you know that?  Like you could convince someone like that to take a quick tumble in the sheets with you!  Fat chance!" 

"You wanna make a small wager on that?" said Enshin with a lecherous grin. 

"Sure!  How about that chestnut horse of mine that you've always been after, against that black gelding of yours?" 

"Done!"  And with those words, Enshin stalked toward the strikingly attractive young man, his progress only occasionally marred by an intoxicated wobble in his stride. 

His companions watched Enshin brazenly introduce himself to the unknown young man.  When the stranger turned to give Enshin a startled look, they could all see that he had strikingly colored amber eyes. 

"What are you gentlemen doing now?" barked an annoyed, gravely voice from behind the young border nobles. 

They all jumped and turned to see a stern, scar-faced captain of the guard staring at them. 

Kimako laughed and said, "Oh nothing much.  We made a small bet on whether Enshin could talk that black-haired guy into having a little... fun, you know." 

The guard captain uttered a snort of contempt.  With the possibility of war against Konan, all the bored noble-born brats were flocking to the capital in hopes of some excitement, glory, and easy loot.  He glanced at the persistent Enshin, who was too drunk to notice that his advances were not at all welcome, and frowned.  The black-haired young man that Enshin was pestering seemed oddly familiar, but who was he? 

The ponytailed stranger suddenly slapped aside one of Enshin's overly familiar hands.  As soon as the guard captain caught a glimpse of those long, lethally sharp fingernails, he instantly knew the identity of that black-haired young man, even if he wasn't wearing his usual costume, feathered headdress, and face paint. 

"Oh bloody hell...," the captain groaned. 

"Huh?  What's wrong?" Kimako demanded irritably. 

"Do you people have ANY idea who your drunken friend is pissing off at the moment?" 

When all he got was a bunch of blank looks, the captain snapped, "That's Lord Tomo, of the Seiryuu Seishi!" 

"Err... is that supposed to mean something to us?" one of Enshin's companions muttered in a bored voice. 

Recalling Lord Tomo's particularly nasty ways of dealing with annoyances, the guard captain rolled his eyes and muttered, "You have NO idea how much trouble you and that fool Enshin are in...." 

-------------------------------------------- 

At that moment, Quatre was trying to restrain the almost overwhelming urge to do something a lot more damaging to the drunken nobleman, who was doing a pretty good imitation of an amorous octopus, than merely knocking those groping hands away. 

Permanently trapping the disgusting drunkard in an agonizing illusion of boiling lava sounded pretty good... on the other hand, actually disemboweling the fool had its attractions.... 

-------------------------------------------- 

As Nakago -- or whoever he really was -- escorted Treize down the hall, the Shogun casually called back to Soi and said, "Attend us." 

Treize noticed that Soi -- or whoever SHE happened to be -- barely managed to suppress an angry snarl. 

"Of course, Lord Nakago," the female Seishi muttered between gritted teeth. 

The three of them walked in silence until they reached the small platform that overlooked one of the many imperial gardens.  Treize found that Yui remembered the location all too well.  It was from this vantage point that she and Nakago had observed Tamahome, acting under the mind-warping influence of the Kodoku, as he had nearly beaten the red-haired Suzaku Seishi to death. 

Nakago stared at Treize, who calmly stared back.  Neither gave anything away.  Finally, Soi muttered irritably, "This isn't getting us anywhere.  Just WHO are you?" 

Treize sighed, then saw the impish grin on Nakago's face. 

(Where have I seen that smile before...?)  The OZ general suddenly chuckled and said aloud, "Maxwell.  Duo Maxwell.  The pilot of Gundam 02, the infamous Deathscythe." 

"Well, you know who the hell I am.  Mind returning the favor?" Duo said. 

Treize sighed and raked Yui's hand through her short hair.  "Treize Khushrenada". 

Duo started to snicker. 

Glaring at Duo, Treize muttered, "I'm so glad you find this amusing, Maxwell."  He glanced at Soi.  "And who are you?" 

"That's Relena Peacecraft," the Gundam pilot said with a chuckle. 

Treize blinked in surprise.  "Ms. Peacecraft?  What on earth are you doing here?" 

Duo followed up by asking, "Hey, that's right!  How the hell did you end up with us?  Now I know that the general here was at the weapons lab when that wacko's experiment blew, but you were nowhere near the place so how did you...." 

Relena shuffled Soi's feet as her cheeks turned bright red with embarrassment. 

Duo suddenly dropped his now-blond head into his hands.  "Oh crap, let me guess.  I bet you were following Heero.  But how did you find out... no, I don't think I wanna know." 

The Gundam pilot turned back to Treize and said, "So now what?" 

Treize shrugged Yui's shoulders.  "I think you've come to the same conclusion that I have.  Given the situation here in Kutou, it's best if we all pretend nothing unusual is going on." 

Duo nodded slowly. 

"And since we're now stranded in this strange new world, it seems rather pointless to continue to act as enemies." 

After a thoughtful moment, Duo grinned and said, "Okay.  Truce?" 

"Exactly."   

"Fine by me.  Like I was just telling Relena, we're all in this mess together."  Duo scowled at Treize and added in threatening tones, "But if you try to double-cross me...." 

Treize gazed somberly at Duo.  "I could say that you'll just have to trust me, and leave it at that.  However, I will be frank with you.  I'm in a painfully vulnerable position right now.  Yui may be the priestess of Seiryuu, but she doesn't have any of the special offensive powers that her Seishi have.  And although Nakago had convinced her otherwise, Yui doesn't have any real authority with either the military or the imperial court, either.  In short, without Nakago's backing and protection, there's not bloody much she or I can do." 

Duo chuckled.  "I'm sure someone with your sneaky mind didn't have any problems figuring out how Nakago's been 'handling' his Miko." 

Treize quirked an eyebrow and murmured, "I have a bit more experience at this sort of game than a confused and traumatized schoolgirl." 

"Uh huh.  Well, don't worry.  You deal honestly and in good faith with me and I'll do the same with you, okay?  At least until we figure out a way out of this mess."  Under his breath, Duo muttered, "If we can...." 

"My word on it," Treize responded solemnly.   

Obviously annoyed at being ignored by both Treize and Duo, Relena interrupted their conversation by saying, "If both you and Maxwell here, that means whatever happened to us might have happened to other people at the lab!"  When Duo failed to react, she snapped, "Don't you understand?"  Heero might be here!"  She grabbed Duo's arm and said, "We have to search for him!  Right now!" 

Duo said evenly, "Believe me, I'm very much aware that Heero could be stuck somewhere in this world, too.  However, let's deal with our own situation first before we go running off on some half-assed search!" 

"But...." 

Treize said firmly, "Maxwell's quite right, especially since we have absolutely no idea if Heero Yuy's on this world at all, much less where he might be.  He's a resourceful young man.  I'm sure he can take care of himself for the moment." 

"Ohhh!  Of course you men WOULD stick together!" 

"Men indeed."  The OZ general smiled sourly, then eyed Nakago's tall, broad-shouldered and undeniably masculine body.  "I must say that I think you got the better deal body-wise, Maxwell." 

The grin vanished from Nakago's face as Duo said somberly, "I... wouldn't exactly say that." 

Treize asked sharply, "What do you mean by that?" 

Duo made a vague gesture. "Well, this Nakago guy isn't exactly what you'd call 'normal', you know...."  His voice stopped short as he stiffened, then turned around sharply. 

"Maxwell, what...." 

Duo made a sharp, silencing gesture.  "I felt a presence... there's an intruder or intruders on the grounds.  Damn it, something's here.  And it's hostile." 

"How on earth can you tell?" Relena said in a skeptical voice. 

"I can sense it... or rather, Nakago can.  You could probably feel it yourself if you'd only pay attention to what Soi's power is trying to tell you," Duo snapped. 

Relena scowled at him, then an uneasy look appeared on her face.  But before she could say anything, a murderous hail of silvery darts exploded from a thicket of trees below and hurtled straight for the priestess of Seiryuu. 

There was a flare of blue as the projectiles slammed into the protective barrier that Duo had reflexively cast with disturbingly casual ease.  As the razor-edged shards clattered harmlessly onto the roof tiles of the palace, Duo instantly counter-attacked with a series of energy blasts. 

Without taking his eyes off the gardens below, Duo spoke in an unmistakable tone of command. 

"Soi, gather the guards and locate the intruders." 

Relena blinked and sputtered, "You want me to WHAT!?" 

When Duo turned his head to glare at her, the glowing blue symbol on his forehead -- or rather, on Nakago's forehead -- was plainly visible. 

"Someone has dared to attack the priestess of Seiryuu.  I want the intruders and I want them alive for questioning.  Now.  That's an order, Soi," he said in an unnervingly calm voice. 

The look in his blue eyes sent a chill down Relena's spine.  Before she could stop herself, Relena found herself stammering, "A-At once, Lord Nakago!"  And with those words, she allowed Soi's memories and instincts to guide her as she ran back inside and started shouting for the guards to accompany her. 

As the palace guards poured out into the garden in pursuit of the mysterious assassins, Treize focused his attention on Duo.  The OZ general had the unhappy feeling that he now understood what Duo had been talking about just before the attack, because at that moment, Treize had no idea just who was standing next to him on that balcony and coolly observing the hectic activity on the ground with a dangerous, almost sinister little smile on his face.   

Who was in control? 

Was it Duo Maxwell, the pilot of Deathscythe? 

Or was it Lord Nakago of the Seiryuu Seishi? 

--------------------------------------------  
madamhydra@aol.com         /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/:E  
http://www.geocities.com/~madamhydra/  
-------------------------------------------- 

=====================================================================  
The Full Disclaimer  
All rights and privileges to Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing are trademarks and property of Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties. All rights and privileges to Fushigi Yuugi and all characters are created by Watase Yuu and are property of and owned by Flower Comics, Shogakukan, Studio Pierot, Bandai Visual, TV Tokyo, and Movic. The characters of these works are used WITHOUT permission for the purpose of entertainment only.  This work of fiction is not meant for sale or profit.  
Original portion of the fiction included here is considered to be the sole property and copyrighted to the author.  
===================================================================== 


End file.
